Over the last few months, I had the opportunity to talk to winemakers about expectations for the 2015 Vintage. Here are a few thoughts on the challenges and their plans for the new vintage.
Similkameen Valley
Okanagan Valley
David Paterson/ Tantalus. 2015 was a hot summer but the mitigating factor for the colder weather grapes such as Riesling was that the vines “shutdown” when the temperature is over 35C. This together with early harvesting meant they were able to maintain the freshness of the fruit and manage the alcohol level in the wines but produce a bolder wine with more fruit extraction. The vintage should be more like 2010 than 2013. The warmer than average temperatures also meant a higher fruit crop so the production should increase to 9500 cases including 400 cases of Old Vine Riesling, 3000 cases Riesling and 2000 cases Pinot Noir.
Sheri Paynter /Off the Grid Organic Winery. 2015 provided us with a number of challenges and opportunities! The longer growing season and warm summer was challenging as we had to speed up our pick by about three weeks. We did end up with some really interesting fruity flavours this season that we are excited about that! Our 2015 Chardonnay has the most amazing tropical fruity nose; the pineapple is so prominent that we decided to make an on-oaked version. The flavour and smells is exactly what I think of when I think Okanangan Patio.
Rob Westbury / Nagging Doubt. The biggest challenge, especially with vineyards south of Summerland, is that the growing degree days and the heat is going up every year. You can easily be in a situation where your sugar levels rise very quickly and acid levels drop rapidly with the faster and more aggressive ripening. For example in 2013 the Merlot from Naramata way picked October 30th, in 2014, Oct 4th and in 2015 it was harvested in late September which provides a magnitude for how more quickly the vineyards are ripening. Very hot, ripe years can lead to more protein in the wine which may need to be removed with more fining. A small batch of 2014 Pinot Noir is being bottled and is April. 200 cases of 2015 Chardonnay will be bottled in April and 2014 The Pull bottling is scheduled for the end of May.
Naramata
Lake Country
Manuel Zuppiger / Arrowleaf Cellars The winery is expecting the 2015 harvest to be exceptional. The fruit was harvested several weeks earlier than usual and we expect to increase production from 14,000 cases for the ’14 vintage to 17,000 for 2015 for which we needed to add three stainless steel fermentation tanks.